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Файл:Бизнес поведение. Основы основ для будущих психологов = Business Behaviour. Core Essentials for Future Psychologists. Учебное пособие по английскому я
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3.2.1 Figure/Ground
One of the simplest means of organising the environment is to
separate the background space from the foreground space. Our attention
is directed towards the features in the foreground and away from the
features in the background. While we cannot perceive both foreground and
background simultaneously, our attention may switch to the background and
reverse the settings. When marketers utilise the principle of figure/ground, it
is essential that the product being advertised does not get lost in the
background. Colour and motion are used to focus our attention on the
foreground.
Example:
Seated either side of you at the business luncheon are two fellow
staff members engaged in an animated debate on the best film of the year.
You have little interest in films and you lean back in your chair to provide
clearer targets for the combatants. A quiet conversation begins across the
table between two of the section heads on the topic of moving your section
interstate. Immediately the film debate recedes into the background and you
focus your full attention on the gossip unfolding across the table.
3.2.2 Closure
There is a tendency to perceive wholly organised patterns even if
we have to make up the missing parts. Based on our prior experience, we
construct the necessary connections between features of the environment to
give us a complete picture. The principle of closure forms the basis of the
interpersonal bias known as the halo effect. We will explore this and other
biases in the next section.
Example:
Marketers and advertisers commonly use closure as a technique of
consumer involvement: “It’s moments like these you need…………." At the
same time, we find ourselves humming the completion of the musical theme
of a popular jingle.
3.2.3 Common Fate
When various features of the environment move together there is a
tendency for the individual to group them together into one larger
pattern. The common direction that objects take provides the contours of
the grouping.
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Example:
Past experience tells us that the smartly dressed and nervously quiet
group of people moving towards the training room are about to be
interviewed for a job.
3.2.4 Similarity
We have a tendency to group together features of the environment
that share specific characteristics. Things that appear similar can be
grouped together as one. The degree of commonality perceived by the
individual suggests a boundary which defines the grouping. The
interpersonal bias of stereotyping is based on the principle of similarity.
Example:
The tieless men hanging around the training room late on Friday
afternoon with their shirt sleeves rolled up are obviously not about to be
interviewed for a job with the company, but rather have attended a fairly
rigorous training session for the day.
3.2.5 Continuity
The organising principle of continuity is best explained in physical
terms. It is expected that lines, objects and events that are perceived as
adopting a particular direction or orientation will continue on in those
directions.
We have a tendency to see straight lines continuing as straight lines,
regardless of changes or interruptions. If the straight line is punctuated by a
series of zig-zag lines, then we will see the interruption as a separate and
distinct entity with a (zig-zag) shape of its own.
The organising principle of continuity is thus opposed to closure,
wherein both elements (the straight and curved lines) would have been
integrated into one whole pattern. We can see the principle of continuity
working in the interpersonal example below.
Example:
We will perceive a direct connection between the events of a person
quietly opening the door and walking into the manager’s office and the
figure, some minutes later, slamming the door as they tear out of the office.
Of course, the manager may well have had nothing to do with the activities
of the second event. The person may have panicked into action at the
memory of an expired parking meter.
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Workshop
•> Give the examples, based on your own experience to illustrate
each of the items. Find proper arguments to sound convincingly.
3.2.6 Proximity
Objects that are near each other will be seen by the observer as being
of the same group, with the spatial relationships of the objects providing
contours of the grouping. A simple interpersonal example illustrates the
principle of proximity.
Example:
When you sit down and talk with the interviewees, you may be
perceived by someone else as one of the interviewees.
4. The Perceptual/Evaluation Biases
In this section we will focus on interpersonal perception i.e., the
process of perceiving people. Much of the success we earn in our social and
working life is conditional on having accurate perceptions of people.
The ability to make friends, succeed in job interviews, chair
meetings, design advertisements, sell to customers and manage staff, all
depend on how we assess people. However, because we cannot ever be
absolutely objective in making such evaluations, the task is not an easy one.
Misinterpretations and distortions impact upon all such personal and
subjective judgements.
Below are some of the distorting influences, or biases, on
interpersonal perception that we need to examine in detail.
4.1 The Positivity Bias/Negativity Bias
Social interaction appears generally to be governed by two
principles: the desire to be liked and the principle of reciprocal action. In
other words, on our first meeting with someone, we present ourselves in our
best light, with our most pleasant manner, and expect the same treatment
from the other. If these two principles are met, then the positivity bias
follows.
A positive response to the meeting will create a friendly
disposition toward the other person. Our perceptual experience will now
contain a positive bias towards that person. Next time we meet the person
we will expect warmth and empathy.
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If the principles of the desire to be liked and reciprocal action are not met
on your first meeting with another person, then a negative bias towards that
person will develop. When a person presents themselves on the first
meeting as cold and rude, a negative bias will ensue.
Once this bias enters our perceptual framework, it is very difficult to
shift. There appear to be several reasons for this situation:
• We perceive the coldness and rudeness as being directed towards
ourselves.
• Most of us feel uncomfortable when unjustly exposed to negative
behavior.
• We understand that antagonistic behavior must constitute the basic
personality structure of the person.
• Why would anyone be deliberately cold and rude?
4.2 The Primacy Effect / Recency Effect
Our first impression influences our later perceptions of a person.
Research shows that an interviewer evaluates a job applicant within the first
three minutes regardless of what transpires. If our first perceptual
experience is one of empathy, it acts as a primacy effect to the positivity
bias. If our first perceptual experience is antagonism, then it acts as a
primacy effect to the negativity bias.
A major characteristic of the primacy effect is its ability to influence
and organise subsequent perceptions of the other person. As it acts as a filter
on our perceptual system, the resultant biases are difficult to change. An
explanation of this situation is found in the next section on attribution
theory.
Our last impressions also influence our later perceptions of people
(recency effect). The last perception we have of a person is a filter through
which we draw our new perceptions.
4.3 Attribution Theory
The tendency to evaluate behavior in terms of either internal or
external causes is referred to as attribution theory. We will attribute the
causes of certain behavior to one of two sources:
• The behavior is due to specific personality characteristics of the
person (dispositional attribution).
• Or is it the result of environmental forces outside the control of
the person (situational attribution)?
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Example:
If our first impression of a person is that they are friendly and
extroverted, then a positivity bias would set in. But, if the next time we meet,
we find them to be unfriendly and sullenly introverted, then there would be
a tendency to look for environmental causes for this changed disposition:
far too many unreasonable work demands are being placed on the person;
the person is responding to pressures in their personal relationships; their
behavior is the result of an unappreciative manager. The reverse process
would be initiated if a negativity bias resulted from our first impressions.
The application of attribution theory as an evaluative technique can
lead to many distortions. There is a common tendency when applying
attribution theory to ourselves, to attribute success to oneself and failure to
outside forces (known as the attribution fallacy).
Example:
If you have academic success in this subject, then no doubt you и
attribute the causes to personal factors. You deserve such recognition
because after all you are intelligent and you have worked hard throughout
the year. But, if you fail, then you will attribute the cases to external ones.
The subject was a load of rubbish and the teacher was incompetent, lazy
fool. No anxiety; producing self-blame will be forthcoming. And hence, the
attribution theory contains self-protective and self-justificatory elements.
Attributing causes of behavior to either external or internal
characteristics safeguards the Primacy Effect. For example, when we first
met Chang, we found him to be warm and friendly. But, on our second
meeting, he was cold and aloof. We can interpret his changed behavior as
stemming from his external environment. Chang’s boss has placed
unreasonable work demands on him and he is just too busy to greet us.
4.4 Central Traits
Some of the qualities we attribute to people have greater
significance or weight when making evaluations of others. Solomon
Asch found that if u were told that a person possessed the qualities warm
and cold, then we would use these descriptions to organise the other
qualities we found in the person. For example, if we found that a person was
warm and intelligent, then we would perceive that she or he was also wise.
But, if we found that the person was cold and intelligent, then we would
perceive them as also being crafty.
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Workshop
•> Select four of the adjectives below to provide a character
profile of Jim and Mario: kind/unkind, friendly/unfriendly, warm/cold,
caring/non-caring
Mario spent his weekends doing volunteer work with the St John’s
Ambulance Brigade.
*______________________________________________________
___________
Jim spent each weekend in a drunken stupor.
*______________________________________________________
___________
•> Work with your partner. Create similar situations and use
different adjectives to provide a character profile of your heroes. Change
turns.
In our day-to-day interactions with other people we should be aware
of the power of central traits like warm and cold, to colour our perceptions.
We need to be mindful of the fact that many perceptions are based on
inferences and not on direct experiences.
It is impossible to approach our environment and others with
anything but our subjective perceptions. However, it is essential to search
our interpretations of people for possible distortions and biases.
4.5 The Halo Effect
Another bias that underpins our interpretation of people is called the
halo effect. This is the tendency to perceive one quality or attribute of a
person and produce from it, an overall picture of that person. The halo
effect is the process of taking one quality and linking it to a whole range of
other qualities.
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We establish such a relationship despite the fact that there may be no
such correlation between those qualities existing in the person. For example,
we find that a person is beautiful or handsome and from this assessment we
may say they are also kind and intelligent.
4.6 The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
There is a tendency for other people to respond to the way we
treat them. This process is known as the self- fulfilling prophecy.
If we approach people with a frosty manner, then in all probability
they will respond coldly to our overtures. They will, as it were, defensively
repay us in kind. We attribute their actions not as a defense or reply to our
own behavior, but as qualities already existing in them.
Example:
It has been argued that the Great Depression and the run on the
banks was the result of a self-fulfilling prophecy. People started with the
false belief that the banks were insolvent. Acting on this false belief brought
about the reality of insolvency.
4.7 Stereotyping
The process of attributing characteristics to people on the basis of
their group membership is known as stereotyping. Its use can offend and
oppress as it is based on ignorance of the person being evaluated. How
many times have you heard statements like, “The dumb blonde is wasting
her time applying for the manager’s position”; or “What is that yobbo doing
in an art gallery?”
To make a correct evaluation of a person we have to look closely at
the person and not at the superficial and limited data we may have
unthinkingly picked up elsewhere.
Unfortunately, the use of stereotyping is common and difficult to
shift. The reason appears to lie with the fact that it is a short-hand means of
making evaluations. And sometimes because of limited access to the person
we fall into the trap of using it.
Example:
As you enter the deserted train late at night you pass a group of
high-spirited and alcohol smelling young men. You move several carriages
away. The problem is that these same young men may be the ones that
would come to your rescue if you were to be attacked.
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Stereotyping can be prevented by working at creating personal
perceptions for each of the unique individuals we experience in life’s
journey.
4.8 Implicit Personality Theory
The process of having a pre-set picture of a person is known as
Implicit Personality Theory. We sometimes have a general set of biases
before we actually perceive them.
We have a tendency to group together the qualities people
possess into specific personality types.
Introverts, for example, are perceived as having a range of
characteristics; quiet, retiring, thoughtful, undemonstrative, keeping their
feelings in check, etc.
We have a tendency to see that these qualities are related to each
other. In fact, a number of personality tests suggest that there is a
connection between these qualities. But, like the process of stereotyping, it
is a short-hand method of making an assessment of someone.
We need only identify one quality to determine the personality of the
person being evaluated. However, like the process of stereotyping, it can
lead to error of judgment, as the individual person may not fall into a
universal personality type.
5. Reducing Interpersonal Biases in Interviews
We experience other people and our environment through the
processes of sensation and perception. Therefore, our view of the world is
coloured by these processes. We cannot escape this subjective construction
of others. But an awareness of the existence of the biases we are capable of
possessing can lead to a more open minded approach to the act of
perception.The interview process is one area in particular that requires a
more objective evaluation of people. To reach this goal of reducing the
biases and subjectivity of interpersonal perception, the following steps can
be initiated:
• Structure the interview
• Pre-set standard questions to all interviewees
• Carefully construct your own set of answers
• Establish a panel of interviewers
• Allocate specific completion times for the interviews
• Evaluate the job applicant only in terms of the selection criteria
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• Ensure that a thorough job analysis, job description and selection
criteria are properly documented
• Use aptitude and personality tests
• Set tasks that are work related and measurable
Review Questions on the Topic
1. Why is it important in your business to be aware of the perceptual
factors which affect a person’s reaction to work and other individuals? In
your answer consider how people select, organise and interpret information.
You should provide at least two examples from the business environment.
2. What is a stereotype? Give an example of a stereotype in a work
or business situation.
3. What is the halo effect? How would the halo effect influence the
way a job candidate is perceived?
4. What is adaptation (perception)? Give an example of an
advertisement that in your opinion deals with adaptation successfully.
5. What is the significance of adaptation when deciding how to
advertise a product?
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PART II. READING, SENTENCE
STRUCTURE & GRAMMAR REVISION
TEXT 1
Read the text.
Watching the children
Watching children, particularly when they don't know you are doing
so, is a particular pleasure. Those quick changes of mood, for instance.
Small boys who dribble an imaginary football down the street and then get
more interested in trying to balance on the edge of the kerb. And then stand
quite still to think for a few seconds before jumping up and down with their
feet together for no to special reason, except that they feel like jumping up
and down. Maybe the fact that I no longer feel in the least like jumping up
and down adds to the interest.
I once watched a child of about two-and-a-half trying to stamp on
little waves breaking across a wide Cornish beach. She stretched her hands
out in pleasure with even little stamp and her bathing pants fell lower and
lower, till she jumped them off altogether but didn't notice it, so intent was
she on the important job of stamping on those waves. She sang to herself a
sort of monotone running commentary on what she was doing and the sound
of it, mingled with soft sea noises, made a most pleasing music
Some time ago my housekeeper had to go away for a while, and her
place was taken by an Austrian friend with a five-year-old daughter. Liesel
couldn't be left at home, so she came to work too. She was very fair, nicely
rounded, with fierce blue eyes and more curiosity than any human being I
have ever met. In her it was an energy that if harnessed could have run an
entire electrical plant. There was nothing idle about it, she wanted to know,
and nothing short of picking her up bodily and removing her from the room
could stop her knowing.
Small Fry by Joyce Grenfell (BrE)
Sentence structure
A. Say why these three statements are not true traditonally? What's
missing?
1. Those quick changes of mood, for instance,
1. Small boys who dribble an imaginary football down the street
and then get more interested in trying to balance on the edge of the kerb.
2. And then stand quite still to think for a few seconds before
jumping up and down with their feet together for no special reason, except
that they feel like jumping up and down.
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